Room With No Windows

"Did you bang her?"
"I already told you no, Halvorsen!"
Eric rolls his eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that? She was all over you yesterday. If I hadn't left you two probably would have started feeling each other up right in front of me."
I scoff, taking a sip from my beer. We were at the studio, recording a few guitar parts for a collaboration we were throwing together. He was the most impossible guy to work with, both inside and outside the 8123 offices. Ellie had stayed back at my place, claiming that she didn't want to get in the way and that she had to catch up on a few assignments anyway.
"But seriously, what are you two?" he asks. "I show up to your house-"
"Nothing new," I mumble.
"-I show up and there's a girl in your house, a girl who apparently came out of nowhere, and now you two are makin' out like you're both sixteen. Did you even think this through?"
I run a hand through my hair, not sure how I would be able to make him understand. To him, it might seem like a free opportunity for me to get laid. He probably saw it as me finally 'getting some.'
Even though all I was technically getting was worked up...constantly.
I take a deep breath. "Look, I never expected things to turn out the way they did, either."
He sits up straighter, giving me a serious look. "You've known her for a couple weeks, John. You can't seriously tell me you feel something for her."
"You have no idea," I mumble. "She's different, yenno? She makes me forget about everything. I like having her around."
Eric laughs. "I bet you do. You never even told me why she's staying. What kind of trouble was she in?"
I relay the whole story about her boyfriend/fiancee and her getting into an argument, and how she was stranded in Arizona with no way back to Ohio.
"What the fuck?" His eyes widen and shoots me an even more incredulous look. "John, you crazy son of a gun, what the hell are you thinking?! She's engaged and she doesn't even live in Arizona?!"
I wince, downing the rest of my beer. There was no need for him to remind me that her stay was merely temporary.
"Did you even think about what you're going to do once she has to leave?" Eric continues to scold. "About what she's going to do about her fiancee?"
I heave a sigh. "I don't know, Halvo, okay? We agreed to figure something out-"
"C'mon, John," he scoffs, shaking his head. "Don't be naive because that isn't you. You're letting her dim your reality. This girl shows up-"
"She's not just some fucking girl so quit calling her that," I snap, growing aggravated as I rise to my feet. "Her name is Elsa."
He holds up his hands in defense. "Alright, don't get your panties in a bunch. Or hers, whatever. Point is, you were never like this before Elsa."
My stomach twists, churning as I think of the one thing he hadn't. He was wrong about that. "Yes, I was."
Eric sighs, standing. "You're thinking about her again."
I nod. "Yeah. But I haven't for a long time." I pause to meet Eric's eyes. "She makes me forget about her. And the connection is just...there." It was incredible how attached I'd grown to Elsa in just a number of weeks.
He pats me on the back. "Come on, man. Let's go see how the songs are coming along."

After the session with the guys and the long conversation with Eric, I felt exhausted. When I got back, my thoughts were jumbled. Was he right? Was I in over my head to think that she would waste her time with me, that she would go through with everything she promised? What if she were to leave and not come back?
I reach my front step and slide the door open enough to fit, until it gets stuck again halfway. Why did it keep getting jammed?
I step through and Elsa nearly tackles me before I could close the door. I sigh, slipping my arms around her. At least I had something to come home to.
Her smile fades as she takes one look at me and pulls back. "What's wrong?"
"Long day," I mutter, moving around her to collapse on my bed. It wasn't even six yet.
She climbs on top of me, sitting on my waist as she pouts. "Want me to make you feel better?"
I chuckle. "C'mere."
Elsa smiles and bends down, pressing her face into my neck. I kiss her forehead. "How do you plan on doing that, huh?"
"Well," she whispers. "I made dinner."
The corner of my lips twitch. "What did you make?"
She sits up and slides off of of the bed. "Come see. I hope you're hungry, 'cause I am."
I let out a laugh, wondering how long she'd been waiting for me so she could dig in.
She leads me into the kitchen that's not my own and see all of the food she has on the stove. There was a potful of rice and a bowl of mashed potatoes.
"There's a chicken roasting in the oven," she says under her breath. "I hope your friend doesn't mind that I made use of the stuff in the cabinet."
"Don't worry, whatever you found was probably in there because he doesn't make it." I grin and breathe in deeply. Everything she made smelled amazing.
I help her search for plates and set them down on the island table along with silver ware. She takes her plate and slabs on some of the mashed potato. I smirk. "Where's my food?"
"Are you calling me fat?" she teases, jabbing the spoon into her mouth.
My fingers brush against her side as I stand beside her. "No, but I'm just saying that if we were stuck on an island together with limited food supplies, you'd let me starve."
She scoffs, turning around and swatting my arm. I laugh, taking her face in my hands. "I'm kidding."
Sticking her tongue out, Elsa holds her plate out of reach as if I were going to take it from her. I lick my lips, preferring something else for dinner.
I corner her against the counter. "I'm in the mood for something spicy."
She blushes. "Well, the chicken has pepper seasoning-"
"Elsa," I whisper, leaning in.
"EEEEEEEELSAAAAAAA!"
I jump and she sighs. "That would be my sister."
Great, I think. Another Eric.
She puts her hands on my chest. I back off, following her back into my main living quarters. I watch her run towards the door and attempt to open it. It slides halfway like before and she lets out an 'oof' trying to push it completely open.
I chuckle, walking over to help her. She lets out a playful squeal when the door is finally unstuck, embracing her sister. The taller, darker-haired woman laughs. "Hey, little sis. What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"
Elsa scoffs. "Please. I never get in trouble."
"Sureeee," her sister drawls out, grinning at me. "Hi. I'm Nicky."
"John," I say and nod. We shake hands and Nicky turns to her sister. "Ready to go?"
My eyes widen. So soon?
Elsa bites her lip. "Uhm, actually no. I have to get my things together."
"What things? I thought you said Isaac left with all of your bags."
"Well, yeah," she mutters. "But I bought some stuff with the money I had on me."
I clear my throat. "You're welcome to stay while she gets everything together. Ellie made dinner-"
"Dinner?" Nicky raises her eyebrow, sending her sister a look of disapproval and confusion, a slight frown on her face. Elsa shrugs. "Speaking of Isaac, I don't want him to know that I'm headed back to Ohio."
"Oh yeah," Nicky sighs. "Sorry about that, by the way. I know the last thing you wanted was to talk to him, but he wouldn't quit calling me. So I gave him the number that you gave me. I hope you gave that asshole a good mouthful."
Shit.
Elsa turns around slowly, her eyes questioning me. I feel my stomach twist in fear of what she was thinking.
Her eyes begin to water. "He tried calling me and you didn't tell me?"
I bite my lip. "Elsa-"
"Did you talk to him?" she asks, not giving me a chance to explain. I finally understood how he got my number, but that was about it. My thoughts were all tangling together.
"N-no! Well, yeah, but it was brief. I didn't tell him anything about you-"
"Why?!" she snaps, letting her tears fall. She was angry. No, she was worse than angry:
She was disappointed.
Fuck, I think. Fuck fuck fuck. No.
"Ellie, it's not-"
"DON'T call me Ellie! You've lost that privilege!"
Fuck. Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, my heart threatening to collapse. Fuck.
"Look, I'll come back in the morning," Nicky mutters. "Clearly you two have some things to talk about."
Elsa stands there motionless as her sister takes her leave, not bothering with the door. It takes everything in me to keep from crumbling.
"Please," I insist. "Let me explain."
"No. There's nothing to talk about. I'm leaving with my sister."
I shake my head, locking my arms around her waist before she could move away. "Just listen to me, Elsa, I'm begging you. I knew you weren't in a good place. I didn't want you to feel helpless or pressured to make a decision. And you were doing so well that I thought..."
"That what?" she says through gritted teeth. "That you could do something behind my back? That you could prevent us getting back together?"
I furrow my eyebrows. "Elsa, are you hearing yourself? You didn't even know if you wanted to get back together with him. You still don't know! Just a few days ago, you were ready to take off your ring. He CHEATED on you for Christ's sake!"
"That doesn't mean that you can just interfere with my life and think it's okay!" she shouts, shoving me away. I try to swallow down the feeling of being rejected.
I hear a soft knock on the door as someone stood at the doorway. I look up and my entire body goes rigid, wanting to grip Elsa by the arms to keep her from turning around, to keep her from going anywhere, but I was frozen in place.
She looks over her shoulder and watch her straighten as he gives her a smile that let me know he had come for her, and planned to leave with her.
Isaac sighs. "Hey, Els."